Top 5 Skills for Government IT Contractors

Federal contractors with top IT skills are in high demand right now, but what specific skillsets should you have in your arsenal? Just as security and IT become more closely intertwined in the private sector, the public sector has been following suit. When applying to cleared government jobs, here are some of the skills that can get you noticed:

Analytic and Investigative Security

If you are able to analyze threats and respond with swift and decisive action to cyber threats, then these are skills that government hiring managers are seeking. The ability to perform forensic examinations on devices to identify and combat ransomware is also a very desirable skill. This type of work is well suited to detail-oriented individuals who have the patience and intuition for combing through data to hunt down and address threats ranging from run of the mill viruses to state-sponsored cyber-attacks.

This also includes risk analysis to determine weak points in networks and departments in order to minimize the risk of an attack. Government contractors with the ability to work quickly and efficiently while maintaining good relationships with the departments they are serving are in high demand.

Strong Service and Communication Skills

Many government contracting jobs require individuals to handle communication with teams for tasks such as risk analysis and minimization. If you can handle these tasks with patience, understanding, and a service-oriented approach, it can make the process easier for everyone involved. When it comes to a data breach or working on a specialized project with other teams, it is important for government contractors to know how to handle communication and be able to effectively relay information. For time sensitive issues such as an ongoing cyber-attack or security incident, it is critical to be able to work under deadline with poise.

Cloud and IoT Security

As the cloud becomes more prevalent across the board, cloud security architect skills have become increasingly valuable. In addition to securing cloud platforms, there is also a growing need for individuals who can monitor and manage them. With IoT devices becoming ubiquitous in the home and workplace, familiarity with securing and managing IoT networks as also become an in-demand skillset. People seeking government IT jobs would be wise to highlight these cutting-edge skills too.

Application Development

Application developers with the ability to create secure applications for mobile and other platforms are certainly in demand. These government contracting jobs may be combined with other tasks such as system and database administration, depending on the position. Application developers will need to be able to perform security accreditation, maintenance, backup and recovery tasks in order to maintain system functionality, and support production systems including new development with security in mind at all times.

Data Management

Organizations in both the public and private sectors are dealing with very large amounts of data these days. Government contracted data scientists and other IT professionals are a boon to their organizations if they are skilled with predictive analytics paired with a background in cybersecurity. The ability to not only manage and analyze data, but be able to respond to threats to this data is an excellent asset.

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Are you a professional looking for government contract work? Contact TPGS today to apply to government contracting jobs!